Question

sonja's credit card has an APR of 21%, calculated on the previous monthly balance, and a minimum payment of 2%, starting the month after the first purchase. her credit card record for the last 7 months is shown in the table below. about what percentage of sonja's payments so far have gone to paying interest?

A. 10%
B. 87%
C. 21%
D. 23%

Answer 1

To calculate the percentage of Sonja's payments that have gone to paying interest, we need to:

1. Determine the total interest Sonja has paid over the past 7 months.
2. Determine the total amount she has paid over those 7 months.
3. Calculate the percentage of her payments that have gone to interest.

While the problem mentions a table showing Sonja's credit card usage, this information is not provided here. Nevertheless, I can guide you on how to calculate the percentage once you have that data:

### Steps to Calculate Interest Paid:

1. **Calculate the Monthly Interest**:
- The monthly interest rate can be calculated as the annual percentage rate (APR) divided by 12. In this case, 21% APR translates to a monthly interest rate of \( \frac{21\%}{12} \approx 1.75\% \).

2. **Track the Balance Monthly**: For each month, you need to consider the balance at the start of the month (after any previous payments or purchases) to calculate how much interest accrues.

3. **Calculate Monthly Interest**:
- For each month, the interest for that month is determined by multiplying the balance at the beginning of the month by the monthly interest rate.

4. **Calculate the Total Interest**:
- Sum the interest from all 7 months to get the total interest paid.

5. **Calculate Total Payments**:
- Sum up all the payments made by Sonja over the 7 months. This includes the minimum payments and any additional payments if there are any.

6. **Determine the Interest Percentage**:
- The formula to calculate the percentage of payments that went to interest is:
\[
\text{Percentage of Payments to Interest} = \left( \frac{\text{Total Interest Paid}}{\text{Total Payments Made}} \right) \times 100
\]

### Final Calculation:
- Once you have the total interest and the total payments, plug them into the formula above to get the percentage.

### Answer Selection:
- After performing these calculations based on the data you've mentioned in your table, you should find a value that most closely fits one of the provided options (A. 10%, B. 87%, C. 21%, D. 23%).

Please provide the specific numbers from Sonja's credit card record so that we can help calculate the correct interest amount and payment percentage.